This has been a particularly well-photographed year, and a pleasant one, so here’s a superfast mostly-visual rundown of 2012:
January: Louisette was born. Being not pregnant is STILL exciting, outweighed only by the presence of Louisette herself.
February: Sleeeeepy.
March: And then we went to Hong Kong. Because international travel is what ALL the baby books recommend. The fantastic mountains + ocean and islands + skyscrapers of Hong Kong will always be a favourite world location for me, and we took heaps of photos with which to taunt Louisette when she grows up enough to complain that we never go anywhere exciting.
April: And then we went to Beijing (and of course the Great Wall) for the wedding of CJ’s brother. A brilliant trip (with some brief excursions into tiredness hallucinations/psychosis for me – Louisette travelled way better than I did) and the best kind of wedding – the kind where you’re delighted about the bride and groom getting together, and so is absolutely everyone else. This trip is probably why Louisette is so chilled out about changes in temperature, company, and noise. Nothing phases her.
May: I didn’t QUITE win $10,000 for my steampunk novel (I came either second or third in the Text Publishing Prize, and received. . . a hearty congratulations) – but I did have my first Mothers’ Day.
Yep, that’s me wiping up some spew.
Louisette turned out to be a surprisingly generous gift-giver, however, so it’s all good.
June: I cut back heavily on my writing – for the first time in my life, I had something better (and more fun) to do: watch Louisette take on the world. (This did not mean stopping twittertales, blogging, or sending books to publishers.)
I became a playgroup addict, going to three a week.
July: My sister and her family came back to Canberra from Perth, meaning that all Louisette’s cousins now live in the same city. Other than, well, having Louisette, this was the best thing that happened this year.
Make that the third-best.
I also began working a significant number of hours per week (babysitting with two primary-age girls and taking Louisette with me), and I’m still heartily enjoying my sharp increase in sanity (after seven years of crazy, that would be the second-best thing that happened this year**). The connection between “less writing” and “more sanity” has not been lost on me, although the sanity definitely came first.
The first picture is Louisette with all her cousins*, and the second is with my after-school girls.
*Watch this space 🙂
The fourth, fifth and sixth-place winners are, in order:
Louisette refused to breastfeed past a few months of age – THANK YOU, baby.
We have a new fridge.
Bil and Bonnie’s wedding in April (okay, yes, they’re outranked by our fridge. If you knew our fridge, you’d understand).
August: Louisette’s youngest cousin was born – her new favourite chew toy. Meanwhile, Louisette suddenly got mobile. She hasn’t stopped laughing maniacally to herself since.
September: CJ’s first Fathers’ Day. I began working full-time (four jobs altogether, all of which let me take Louisette along) – and, until I got bronchitis, it was awesome. (Since then two of my families have shifted but my workload is similar.)
October: Louisette was born with a tiny skin tag on her face. She had it removed – and was an absolute champion the whole time.
November: It became clear that independent standing and walking isn’t far away. Soon she will be a toddler – literally.
December: Beach trip!! Staying at a lighthouse!! With my my entire family!! (All my side, anyway – I have grandiose plans to get ALL our close family together just once in February – including Bil and Bonnie and Louisette’s godparents – all of whom live overseas).
All in all, an amazing year. Merry Christmas, everyone. Remember to eat a lot – but choose your food wisely. Glitter looks a lot better than it tastes.
PS I forgot (*gasp*) to post the month of daily photos this month, so that’ll happen on Wednesday.